Annie’s speech problem

Anne Hathaway’s speeches always start out good. Remember the Globes? And her tribute to Sally Field? That was good. Last night too. Last night she started out strong. She talked about her SAG membership, she expressed her love for her community. And if she had stopped there, we’d be cool. The problem is that she doesn’t stop. Not only does she not stop, she goes on to “my cast” her way onto your Hate List.

“My Cast”

As you know, as I’ve noted too many times already, I hate “my cast”. How hard can it be to say “my castmates”? It’s one more syllable! It can’t be that taxing! And it’s so much less ME.

Why not “my cast”? Or, in her case, “my casts”?

Because it’s just so... proprietary. It suggests that the cast that’s being appreciated exists only to support the person who is thanking it. It does not evoke a sense of “team”. Rather it gives the impression that the “cast” is one faceless collective with a secondary purpose. Think of it this way...

They never say “my crew”.

When they thank the crew, it’s always, “the crew”. It’s never “my crew”. Because “my crew” implies that the entire crew is subordinate to the actor. Why then doesn’t the same apply to “cast”?

I wouldn’t expect this understanding from the lower ranks, the Ashley Greenes and Kellan Lutzes. I would however expect it from Anne Hathaway because I want to believe that she knows the subtleties and nuances of language and expression. And this is a compliment. Annie is not stupid. At least I don’t want to think of her as stupid. Which means that I hold her to a higher standard -- that she would be able to differentiate between “my cast” and “my castmates” or “the cast”, or even the slightly less offensive “our cast”.

As for the dress, to Anne’s credit, it could have been so much worse. Imagine it on, like, Julianne Hough? You would have clubbed off a finger. Much prefer her dress from the night before at the Producers Guild -- Erdem with a built-in cape. Gorgeous. Except for the shoes which are vegan and, again, are we supposed to give that a pass?